Angry Baker's Arc

Chapter 1 of 13

Allan watched Melissa through the kitchen doorway as she measured ingredients for dinner. She moved differently now, lighter on her feet, and he caught himself smiling before the familiar knot formed in his chest. He loved her more every day, but the thought twisted inside him. Was she changing for herself or for him? The wedding catalogue sat open on the counter between them, its flowered cover catching the afternoon light. Melissa had left it there this morning, a tab marking a page about spring ceremonies. Allan's fingers brushed the journal in his pocket, the one with May circled in red ink. Six months felt too long. Three might be better. He wanted to tell her tonight. Later, he carried the trash out back and spotted her through a gap in the fence. Melissa was walking the trail behind their property, her steady pace unbroken. She did this every evening now. Allan stood still, watching. She wasn't looking toward the house. She wasn't checking to see if he noticed. She was just walking, focused on something he couldn't see. He pulled the journal from his pocket and opened it to May. Then he flipped back three months and stopped at February. His hand hovered over the blank page. The wedding needed to happen soon, before his anger could ruin what they had. Before she realized she deserved better than a man who froze every time the croissants came out wrong. He pressed his pen to the paper and circled the twenty-fourth. Tonight, he would ask her. Tonight, he would set the date.